BY TYLER DURDEN
WEDNESDAY, JUN 04, 2025 – 06:25 AM
When it comes to its trade war with the US, Brussels is quick to parade just how anti-Trump it is, how unfair US trade practices are (just ignore the fact that Europe was far more protectionist for decades) and how much it loves free trade, honest. But in Europe’s growing trade war with China (you don’t really hear much about it because the media would rather public attention be soaked up by the far less important transatlantic feud, and away from the far more important Chinese trade war) thing are rapidly disintegrating.
As Rabobank’s Michael Every points out, the "We Love Free Trade" EU just used its International Procurement Instrument for the first time to freeze Chinese medical devices out of its public procurement markets for five years unless China opens its market to EU equivalents. As Every notes, "that’s economic statecraft with muscle, underlining that there are lots of tools in the mercantilist toolkit besides tariffs."
In response, Beijing took some time away from its constant criticism of US trade policy to also criticize as protectionist the European Union’s plan to curb Chinese medical device manufacturers’ access to public procurement contracts, and vowed to take action to protect the country’s interests, Bloomberg reports.
China urged the EU to handle any differences through dialog and cooperation to safeguard trade relations, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. “China will closely monitor the EU’s follow-up actions” and will take measures to protect the rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, the ministry said.
Please read more at the below link: